MUN Botanical Garden

One of the things I wanted to do on this trip was walk around the MUN Botanical Garden, so when Wayne came to get me in Mt. Pearl I convinced him to go. 

Wayne thinks these were Dogberry branches

How did I accomplish that?  Asking my second cousin Allison to meet us there made it hard for him to say no!

Me and Allison were wowed by the large hostas

I haven't seen Allison in at least 30 years, but thanks to Facebook it's easy to keep tabs on those distant relatives now!  Hanging out with her led to lots of interesting information on events coming up in the area like the George Street Festival which Wayne is definitely attending.

Green Frog - click here for info and to hear Green Frog call

I like things a little quieter than a festival.  I will probably drop him off and head for the East Coast Trail instead.  We've both decided that this trip is an opportunity to get out there and collect some new experiences.

More than 100 years ago, Queen Victoria chose the pitcher plant
to be engraved on a newly minted Newfoundland penny

The Botanical Garden had a small greenhouse, a vegetable garden, and various other flower beds but it also had a trail system that winds through its 110 acres.

Cinnamon fern?

The Yetman Trail took us through the woods and across a fen to see some native plants but unfortunately most of those were not labeled like the ones in the flower beds were.

Foxglove

You don't have to go to the Botanical Garden if you want to see wild roses, they are everywhere in Newfoundland.

But if you want to see Gnome doors and houses, the garden is your best bet.

Also at the Garden is Oxen Pond where quite a few American Black Ducks were swimming around hoping for some handouts.

I'm guessing the Gnomes don't feed them, but who knows what goes on there at night?

With all these ladies swimming around there should be some youngsters around...

Male in the middle? ID info says pale brown head and yellow bill

Sure enough, they were all snuggled up on a rock having their afternoon nap.

There was a rather large loon on the pond as well, but he was a bit far off to get a good look.  So I settled for a picture of this instead.

A hosta with water droplets made for a good photography subject, but most of my flower shots the color was off so I'm guessing my settings were off.  Oh well, it's not always about the photos I bring home and this was a nice place to visit for $9 and we didn't even get bit by mosquitoes!